In Shimizu’s sequel to his 1948 masterpiece, a journalist arrives in the secluded foothills of Izu to find a hidden commune to ask, “What happened to the children of the Beehive?” Three years have passed and her question situates itself not only in the realm of Shimizu’s craft, but that of reality: What became of the war orphans Shimizu raised?

Yuki is a young, single mother supporting herself and her son, Haru, with a job as a bar hostess.

Performing every night for an audience of male admirers, cabaret singer Yuri captures the attention of Yoshio Tsugawa, a motorcycle salesman who becomes hopelessly enchanted by the unattainable star. In his desperation to win her favor, Yoshio deceives his own customers to support Yuri’s glamorous lifestyle, ultimately ending up imprisoned for embezzlement.

The story focuses on the widower Nemoto, ostensibly a businessman, who has one son, Kanichi, the hero of the title. Nemoto remarries; his new wife is a widow with a son and daughter of her own. However, Nemoto’s business turns out to be out a shady scam, and he disappears, leaving his wife to raise the three children alone. In order to support the family, she is obliged to become a bar hostess. She conceals this shameful employment from the children, but the truth comes out years later, after her daughter is rejected by her husband’s family when they investigate her background.

In Asakusa, Tokyo, a couple of a violinist Yamano and a revue dancer Hanae lives in poverty. One day Hanae’s little sister rolls into their apartment and begins to stir things up with her riotousness.

A spirited young teacher challenges the conservative school employing her with liberal thinking and teaching methods.

A motley cast of characters, including a human billboard and a shoeshine girl, help a 5 year old girl after she is separated from her mother on the crowded streets of Ginza.

Based on the novel by Kojin Shimomura. Story of a young boy and his adventures in the country. His idyllic life is shattered by the illness and death of his mother.

Toshie, a young, conservative secretary-typist has fallen in love with Shozo Narita, a young man she has met through her work.

On vacation's eve, a boy is sent to the countryside to live with his uncle after his father is imprisoned and accused of embezzlement.

A group of war orphans initially seen scratching out an existence through black market work, as they are taken under the wing of a nameless soldier, just repatriated after the war.

In the heart of the Japanese Alps, in Kamikochi, Nagano Prefecture, botany professor Kazuhiko Onuma spends time with Tsuruko, his lover. One night, Kazuhiko's wife Kazuyo comes to see them and confronts the professor about his extramarital affair, and Tsuruko, an inevitable witness to the confrontation, leaves the professor the following morning. Over the next decade, whenever he visits the mountain cabin every autumn equinox, the memory of Tsuruko will forever haunt Kazuhiko...